Fire door and stoker structure



y 9 W33; H. E. LEPPERT 29@39325 FIRE DOOR AND STOKER STRUCTURE Original Filed Nov. 19, 1951 Patented May 5, 1936 UNITED STATES FIRE DOOR AND STOKER STRUCTURE Henry E. Lippert, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor, by mesne assignments, to The Standard Stoker Company, Incorporated, a corporation of Delaware Application November 19, 1931, Serial No. 576,115 Renewed October 1, 1935 3 Claims.

This invention pertains to fire doors for furnaces and boilers, and relates particularly to the structure of fire doors that form closures for firing openings to which fuel is delivered by a stoker.

An object of the invention is to provide a firing opening of minimum dimensions, deliver fuel thereto by a stoker, and construct a fire door for the firing opening whereby the lower portion only of the firing opening is used for stoker firing and the entire said opening may be used for hand firing.

Another object of the invention is to provide a plurality of fire doors mounted on the furnace wall containing the firing opening and arranged to swing parallel to said wall about axes adjacent the upper ends of the fire doors and shape the lower portions of the fire doors so the said portions will form a part of the top wall of the stoker conduit that delivers fuel to the firing opening.

Another object is the provision of a construction of the above character wherein the fuel in the stoker conduit will not be dislodged and fall out of the conduit when the fire doors are opened.

A further object of the invention is to provide a structure of the foregoing character for installation in a locomotive so that the encroachment on the cab space is relatively small.

Still a further object is the provision of the previously mentioned construction whereby ready access to the firebox for cleaning, raking and hand firing may be had without manually disengaging and removing any stoker parts.

Other objects, advantages and novel detail features will be apparent during the course of the following description and claims, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrate the invention applied to a locomotive, but its application is not limited thereto.

In the drawing, Fig. 1 is a central vertical longitudinal sectional View of a portion of a locomotive taken through the firing opening in the backwall or backhead with the invention applied thereto and shown in similar section.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken through the firing opening on line 2 -2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an elevational view of the backhead illustrating the invention from the rear with one fire door in its closed position, the other fire door in its open position, and a part of the stoker conduit broken away to illustrate the means for securing a distributor plate to the conduit.

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 showing an alternative construction.

It is undesirable that firing openings be larger than is necessary. With the construction according to the present invention the area of the firing opening is decreased several score square inches, with relation to the area of the conventional firing opening now used on locomotives for stoker and hand firing, and in the event of an explosion in the fire box, as occasionally occurs by the breaking of a water tube in the fire box of a boiler, the fire doors and the stoker parts adjacent the firing opening cannot be blown off the backhead or loosened as easily as would be the case if the opening were substantially larger.

Similar reference characters in the figures 01' the drawing indicate corresponding elements or features of construction herein referred to.

In the drawing, the reference character or numeral l designates the firebox of a locomotive boiler provided with a backhead 2 having a firing opening 3 therein for stoker and hand firing; 4, the grates of the firebox; 5, the locomotive cab; and 6, the cab deck.

A riser conduit 1 of a stoker extends forwardly and upwardly from beneath the cab deck 6, through the cab deck and communicates at its upper end directly with the lower portion of the firing opening 3. The conduit 1 is rigidly secured adjacent its lower end to the backhead by means of a bracket 8. A transfer conduit!) communicates in end to end relation with the conduit 1 and contains a conveyor screw H] for transferring fuel therethrough and for forcing the fuel forwardly and upwardly in the conduit 1.

Fluid blasts issue from jet openings H in the rear wall l2 of the conduit 1, and impinge upon the fuel as it is moved upward in front of the jet openings ll into the range of the blasts to discharge the fuel through the firing opening 3 into the firebox. A distributor plate I3 is secured to the front wall I 4 of the conduit 1 by studs 1 5 and extends through the firing opening 3 into the firebox. The distributor plate I 3 is downwardly curved at its rearward end I6 and forms a continuation of the front wall M of the conduit 1. The rearward end l6 of the distribu-' tor plate is substantially coaxial with the lower margin 11 of the firing opening 3 and the plate I3 is below the elevation of the jet openings ll thereby offering no obstruction to the fuel discharged by the fuel blasts. The distributor plate is provided with depressed side portions l8 and a forward raised portion l9 for deflecting part of the fuel discharged by the fluid blasts to the sides of the firebox.

A one piece frame 20 extends around the sides and top of the firing opening and is rigidly se- 55 cured to the rear surface 2| of the backhead by studs 22 and 23. The conduit 1 is secured to the lower portion of the frame 20 by the studs 23 which extend through flanges 24 on the side walls 25 of said conduit.

A plurality of fire doors 26 are arranged to swing from their upper ends about stud shafts 21 to the sides of the firing opening in Opposite directions to expose the entire said opening for hand firing. The stub shafts 21 are secured in the frame 20 substantially perpendicular to the rear surface 2| of the backhead whereby the fire doors will swing substantially parallel to the rear surface 2|. The fire doors 26 are operatively connected with power actuated mechanism (not shown) in a cylinder 28 so that both fire doors will open simultaneously, which is common in the art and need not be shown here as the said mechanism forms no part of the present invention.

The top portions 29 of the fire doors are fiat and parallel with the rear surface 2| of'the backhead; and the bottom portions 30 thereof curve backwardly and downwardly and form a part of the top wall only of the conduit 1. The side walls 25 of the conduit I extend above the upper terminus 3| of the rear wall |2 of the conduit, and the upper edges of the side walls are of substantially the same contour as are the lower portions of the fire doors when considered in vertical longitudinal section. The conduit 1 is secured to the frame 20 and arranged so that the top edges of the rear wall l2 and side walls 25 have a close fit with the bottom portions 38 of the fire doors. It is apparent that when the fluid blasts from jet openings II are discharging fuel into the firebox, the portion of the conduit beneath the bottom portions 30 of the fire doors and above a horizontal plane through the jet openings will be free of fuel, and the fire doors may be opened without the fuel spilling from the conduit. Jet openings H are in communication with chambers 32.

In Fig. 4, a stoker conduit 48 is illustrated having a conveyor screw 49 therein for delivering fuel directly to a firing opening 50. The conduit 48 is substantially straight. Jet openings 5|, which issue fiuid blasts, are located forward of the outlet end of the conduit 48 in a chambered member 56 which forms the upper end portion of the front or bottom wall 51 of the conduit. The lower ofiset portions 52 of the fire doors 53 are flat and inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the upper portions 54 thereof to form a portion of the top or rear wall of the conduit 48. The side walls 55 of the conduit 48 prevent fuel from falling out of the conduit when the fire doors 53 are opened.

Various changes may be made in the constructions shown in the drawing without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What I claim is: V

1. In combination with a firebox having a wall provided with a firing opening therein for hand and stoker firing, a stoker conduit in com munication with the firing opening, said stoker conduit at its delivery end including a rear wall and sidewalls extending beyond and above said rear wall and above the lower marginal edge of said firing opening but terminating below the upper marginal edge thereof, the conduit opening forwardly into said firing opening between said side walls and opening upwardly between said side walls and the plane of the firebox wall and the upper edge of said rear wall, said last named opening being defined by the contiguous edges of the rear and side walls, and a firedoor mounted on said firebox wall to swing laterally parallel thereto, said firedoor having an upper and a lower portion, the upper portion of said firedoor forming a closure for the upper portion of said firing opening above the upper edges of said side walls and the lower portion of said firedoor forming a closure for the opening defined by the contiguous edges of said rear and side walls.

2. In combination with a firebox having a wall provided with a firing opening therein for hand and stoker firing, a unitary stoker conduit rigidly secured to said firebox wall and communicating with the firing opening, said stoker conduit at its delivery end including a rear wall and side walls extending beyond and above said rear wall and above the lower marginal edge of said firing opening but terminating below the upper marginal edge thereof, the conduit opening forwardly into said firing opening between said side walls and opening upwardly between said side walls and the plane of the firebox wall and the upper edge of said rear wall, said last named opening being defined by the contiguous edges of the rear and side walls, and a firedoor mounted on said firebox wall to swing laterally parallel thereto, said firedoor having an upper and a lower portion, the upper portion of said firedoor forming a closure for the upper portion of said firing opening above the upper edges of said side walls and the lower portion of said firedoor forming a closure for the opening defined by the contiguous edges of said rear and side Walls.

3. In combination with a firebox having a wall provided with'a firing opening therein for hand and stoker firing, a stoker conduit rigidly secured to said firebox wall and communicating with the lower portion of said firing opening, said stoker conduit at its delivery end including a rear wall and side walls extending beyond and above said rear wall, and a firedoor mounted on said firebox wall to swing parallel thereto, v

said firedoor having an upper and a lower portion, the upper portion of said firedoor being substantially parallel with said firebox wall and forming a closure for the upper portion of said firing opening and the lower portion of said firedoor extending rearwardly from said upper portion of the firedoor and forming a closure for the opening defined by the contiguous edges of said rear and side walls.

HENRY E. LIPPERT. 

